Despite claims of progress in the eThekwini Municipality's online invoicing system, contractors report significant delays in payments.
As the eThekwini Municipality “touts” progress in addressing payment challenges, city contractors have claimed that hundreds of invoices for work done have not been paid. The contractors spoke out as Durban Mayor Cyril Xaba revealed on Sunday that the payment system was being embraced by contractors. However, contractors in the water and electricity services have come forward to express that they are still not receiving payments due to issues caused by the system.
A few weeks ago, the city and the contractors were locked in a bitter dispute over the system. The contractors protested its use, arguing they were not equipped to utilise it, and hence it had delayed their payments. The city pushed back, arguing that the launch of the system had been delayed to give the contractors an opportunity to learn to use it and to ensure that the contractors involved were paid for the work done.
The municipality has previously indicated that improvements have been made and stated that more than R800 million has been paid out using the system. The mayor recently stated that the system is now performing well. "Government policy requires that service providers be paid within 30 days of submitting a valid invoice. For many years, the municipality was unable to consistently comply with this requirement, resulting in findings by the Auditor-General.
